Need Medical Help? Get Out Your Checkbook

[MJS]

About a year ago Cary Feldman was surprised to find himself sprawled on the pavement in an intersection in Chicago Heights, Ill., having been knocked off his motor scooter by the car behind him.
Five months later he got another surprise: a bill from the fire department for responding to the scene of the accident.
“I had no idea what the fire truck was there for,” said Mr. Feldman, of nearby Matteson. “It came, it looked and it left. I was not hurt badly. I had scratches and bruises. I did not go to the hospital.”

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Well, I will start off by disagreeing with what this guy said in his last paragraph here. Whether or not he feels that he needed a fire truck, the thing is, is that depending on what the EMS protocols are for that city/state, they may go. Trust me when I say, I handle calls daily, in which a fire truck is sent, and IMO, an ambulance is the only thing that is needed, but again, I dont make the rules.

Anyways...my opinion on the charge...personally I think its crazy. I know where I work, the ambulance service is contracted out, but if you go by ambulance, you do get a charge. But should the cops charge you when they come to take an accident report? Should the FD charge you when they come to put the fire out? IMO, no. This is what your taxes are for.

Just my .02.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/fire...-horrify-residents-insurance/story?id=9736696

Somebody has to pay the bills. Either the city pays it and taxes the residents, or the payment has to be made by those who receive the services. When citizens vote against tax increases to pay the bills, either services have to be cut or things like this are going to happen.

There is no free lunch.

 

[Cryozombie]

Anyways...my opinion on the charge...personally I think its crazy. I know where I work, the ambulance service is contracted out, but if you go by ambulance, you do get a charge. But should the cops charge you when they come to take an accident report? Should the FD charge you when they come to put the fire out? IMO, no. This is what your taxes are for.

Just my .02.

No, you don't understand... that's how it works here. You pay for every vehicle dispatched. Wanna see how quickly you can go Bankrupt? Spill a gallon of gas at the local filling station and watch your checkbook go down the drain... thats a HUGE dispatch and costly too.

This is why when I talk about Market Anarchy, and say "I think it could work" and people start screaming about how stupid that is because you wouldn't get fire or police protection unless you had a contract, I don't understand what they mean... Cuz we already pay regardless.

 

[MJS]

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/fire...-horrify-residents-insurance/story?id=9736696

Somebody has to pay the bills. Either the city pays it and taxes the residents, or the payment has to be made by those who receive the services. When citizens vote against tax increases to pay the bills, either services have to be cut or things like this are going to happen.

There is no free lunch.

I guess I should consider myself lucky then, because everywhere that I've lived, there is no charge for the services. Yes, you pay the taxes, but I was never sent a bill from the local PD for investigating anything.

OTOH, maybe we should be billing those that abuse the system. If I had a dollar for everytime I took a 911 call, no less, for, lets see....

1) a headache
2) back pain
3) vomiting
4) unable to take a ****
5) chicken pox
6) a fall victim with an ankle injury...that happened 2 days before
7) a cyst on their ***
8) leg pain

Well, I think you see where I'm going. Whats worse, is that in some of these cases, a fire truck is sent, when in reality, they're not needed.

Oh BTW, yes, these are actual calls that I, and my fellow co-workers have actually taken.

 

[MJS]

No, you don't understand... that's how it works here. You pay for every vehicle dispatched. Wanna see how quickly you can go Bankrupt? Spill a gallon of gas at the local filling station and watch your checkbook go down the drain... thats a HUGE dispatch and costly too.

This is why when I talk about Market Anarchy, and say "I think it could work" and people start screaming about how stupid that is because you wouldn't get fire or police protection unless you had a contract, I don't understand what they mean... Cuz we already pay regardless.

Yup.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

I guess I should consider myself lucky then, because everywhere that I've lived, there is no charge for the services. Yes, you pay the taxes, but I was never sent a bill from the local PD for investigating anything.

Right. Even in a free-market capitalist society, we prefer some systems to be socialized, meaning that payment is (if you will) single-payer. The state (city, etc) contracts the services or provides them directly, pays for them, and collects funds through taxes to reimburse the government coffers.

Most of us in the USA grew up with socialized services such as police, fire, public schools, and libraries. It's normal and we're used to it. We don't consider it 'socialism' but of course it is.

OTOH, maybe we should be billing those that abuse the system. If I had a dollar for everytime I took a 911 call, no less, for, lets see....

1) a headache
2) back pain
3) vomiting
4) unable to take a ****
5) chicken pox
6) a fall victim with an ankle injury...that happened 2 days before
7) a cyst on their ***
8) leg pain

Well, I think you see where I'm going. Whats worse, is that in some of these cases, a fire truck is sent, when in reality, they're not needed.

Oh BTW, yes, these are actual calls that I, and my fellow co-workers have actually taken.

I used to take E911 calls too, and I was also a police dispatcher at one time. I'm sure I've heard a lot of the same stories you have.

Even before the current economic crisis, many fire departments were beginning to charge for false alarms beyond a particular number, and the police would charge for false automated burglar alarms beyond a particular number. Now as belts get tightened further, we're going to see more things charged for.

Generally speaking, it's too bad but there's no escape. We either pay more taxes or we do without the services, or we charge for the services directly. Those are the choices; there is nothing else. Wish I know an answer, but there isn't any.

 

[jks9199]

Most of the fire & rescue departments in my area will dispatch an ambulance and fire truck to most calls. Often, the fire truck may be closer than an ambulance, and all their fire fighters are certified as at least EMT-A; many hold higher certifications, as well. Most jurisdictions have also instituted a fee for ambulance transports -- but they waive that fee if your insurance doesn't pick it up. A large factor in the fee was to discourage people who were using the EMS service as a taxi service...

However, I do know of cases where the volunteer fire department noted that a particular address wasn't listed as donating... and suggested a donation was in order on the scene of an event...

 

[chrispillertkd]

OTOH, maybe we should be billing those that abuse the system. If I had a dollar for everytime I took a 911 call, no less, for, lets see....

1) a headache
2) back pain
3) vomiting
4) unable to take a ****
5) chicken pox
6) a fall victim with an ankle injury...that happened 2 days before
7) a cyst on their ***
8) leg pain

Well, I think you see where I'm going.

Yep. You're saying don't call 911 unless McDonald's doesn't have any chicken mcnuggets!!!

Pax,

Chris

 

[Makalakumu]

I ran a wilderness canoe trip business in Minnesota and if we had an emergency on trail, we had to pay for an extraction. If there was any aircraft involved, you'd easily have to shell out 20k or more. I had an insurance policy for those kind of emergencies and we thankfully never had to use it. I felt bad for the people who aren't professional, don't understand how much an emergency on trail is going to cost, and simply had an accident. Anyway, this was more then enough motivation to turn me into "Captain Safety" on trail.

 

[Marginal]

No, you don't understand... that's how it works here. You pay for every vehicle dispatched. Wanna see how quickly you can go Bankrupt? Spill a gallon of gas at the local filling station and watch your checkbook go down the drain...

That takes a massive heap of stupid to pull off in the first place.